Multiple folders

[JJN]

Lightroom Version Number

6.14

Operating System

1. macOS 10.14 Mojave

I need to create 57 sub-folders. Is there a more efficient way to do this other than clicking "Create Folder Inside XXX.." 57 times?

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Why do you need to create these subfolders and how would they be named?

 

[JJN]

I identify individual aircraft by their registration number. My folders are organized as follows:
LEVEL 1:" jnlightroom" folder
LEVEL 2: year subfolders such as "2018", "2019", etc (everything except aviation)
LEVEL 2: "Aviation Museums" (with subfolders by location such as "RAF Hindon", "Smithsonian", "USAF Museum")
LEVEL 2: "Airports and Airshows (with subfolders for each airport or airshow such as "Heathrow", "RIAT Fairford")
LEVEL 3: subfolder for each aircraft by registration number

 

[JJN]

CORRECTION
I identify individual aircraft by their registration number. My folders are organized as follows:
LEVEL 1:" jnlightroom" folder
LEVEL 2: year subfolders such as "2018", "2019", etc (everything except aviation)
LEVEL 2: "Aviation Museums" (with subfolders by location such as "RAF Hindon", "Smithsonian", "USAF Museum")
LEVEL 2: "Airports and Airshows" folder
LEVEL 3: subfolders for each airport or airshow such as "Heathrow", "RIAT Fairford"
LEVEL 4: subfolder by date for each visit or airshow such as "2018-07-19 Heathrow Airport"
LEVEL 5:if there are a lot of aircraft for an airport or airshow, there is a subfolder for each aircraft by registration number

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Such a folder structure can only be created manually.

I wouldn't do this with folders, however. I would use keywords for this kind of identification (maybe you already do that as well), and then I would use smart collections to get the structure (if I would still need that). If you use keywords, you can find any combination you want without having to create these folders and move images around. The capture date is already in the EXIF data of the image, so you'd only need to use keywords for airports, museums and registration numbers.

 

[JJN]

Thanks for your suggestions.
I use keywords, but I don't always keyword faithfully or in a timely manner.
I will experiment with Smart Collections.
One benefit of subfolders by aircraft ID or registration is that I can quickly see what was at an airport or airshow,
with keywords I have to know the aircraft ID to search by keyword.
UPDATE: After I posted my original query yesterday, I created 60 subfolders in a small amount of time, less time than it took me to grumble about it.

 

[clee01l]

UPDATE: After I posted my original query yesterday, I created 60 subfolders in a small amount of time, less time than it took me to grumble about it.

There is a very good reason that trying to organize by folders is impractical. Collections and Smart Collections are the most efficient way to organize images.

If you create a folder and move images into it, you require file system resources to move data around. An Image can reside in one and only one file system folder
You can have a collection that contains Aircraft by Registration Number. It could even be a smart collection if you use keywords.
Another Collections could be of a particular airshow. You can add photos of the airplanes that were there (as determined by registration number. The original image will be contained in a collection for that registration number. The physical folder for the image file could be the date the photo was shot. (Lightroom will automatically create and import by date named folders) once imported you are free to spend your time adding appropriate keywords and building collections and not trying to create clumsily named folders.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Dan Marchant]

Agree with the above. Folders are far less efficient/flexible than Collections. Not only is it more work to create all these folders but it then makes finding/displaying images much harder.
You go to 8 air shows in two different years and the same one aircraft is at 3 of them. That means you have images of the same aircraft is 3 different folders that are themselves spread across two different years folder trees.
Two years later you want to find all the photos of that one aircraft - are you really going to remember which folder each image is in?

Yes, typing keywords is a bit of a drag/boring but it is a job you do once per image and then you can forget it. You no longer need to remember what folder that image is when you next want to find it, or the time after that or the time after that.

You can great a smart collection for each airshow, manufacturer, aircraft model, individual aircraft....
When you import images you can tell LR to add a keyword "Biggin Hill 2012" to all those images and all those images are now in that smart collection.
Go through and keyword the images by manufacturer and now they are also sorted into those smart collections.
Add the aircraft type and they are further sorted into those smart collections.
Add a smart collection "Best Spitfires" that includes any image keyworded "Spitfire" that is also rated 3 stars or higher

One image file in one location on your drive but appearing in multiple different collections.